Foley Square, also called Federal Plaza, is a street intersection in the Civic Center neighborhood of

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, which contains a small triangular park named Thomas Paine Park. The space is bordered by Worth Street to the north, Centre Street to the east, and

Lafayette Street Lafayette Street ( ) is a major north–south street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs throu ...

to the west, and is located south of Manhattan's Chinatown and east of Tribeca. It was named after a prominent

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

district leader and local saloon owner, Thomas F. "Big Tom" Foley (1852–1925).

Site

Foley Square sits on part of the former site of Collect Pond, specifically the smaller portion known as "Little Collect Pond" which used to lie to the south of Collect Pond proper. This was one of the original fresh water sources for the city, but in 1811 was drained and filled in because it had become severely polluted and implicated in

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

and

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

outbreaks. The neighborhood around the pond was the notorious Five Points neighborhood, home of many gangs.

Description

The square is the site of a number of civic buildings including the classic facades and colonnaded entrances of the 1933-built United States Courthouse, fronted by the sculpture '' Triumph of the Human Spirit'' by artist Lorenzo Pace; the New York County Courthouse; the Church of St. Andrew; the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse – known before 2003 as the Foley Square Courthouse – where the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

is based; the Manhattan Municipal Building; the Ted Weiss Federal Building and the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building and Court of International Trade., p.421. Also featured in the square are five

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

historical medallions, set flush into areas of the surrounding sidewalks, telling the history of the park and its surroundings, including one for the "Negro Burial Ground", an 18th-century African-American burial ground unearthed during construction of the square. This burial ground has been preserved as the African Burial Ground National Monument. '' Tilted Arc,'' a

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

installation by Richard Serra, was displayed in the square from 1981 until it was removed amid controversy in 1989. In 2005, Thomas Paine Park was established as a part of the square. Foley Square has been used several times for special purposes. It was used as a triage center on September 11, 2001. The Foley Square Greenmarket operates year-round at the corner of Centre Street between Worth and Pearl Streets, and offers baked goods as well as local farm picked fruits and vegetables which are guaranteed to have been harvested within three days of sale. Because of its proximity to Chinatown, Foley Square is often host to a large group of people performing

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

in the mornings.

Site of protests

On November 17, 2011, Foley Square was the site of a protest which was part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which took place after the protestors had been removed from nearby Zuccotti Park. Thousands of people attended the rally, including members of a dozen different unions. Foley Square has been the site of many other protests and rallies. In December 2014, many thousands gathered there to protest the decision in the death of Eric Garner. In November 2016, in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline and in solidarity with Standing Rock water protectors, dozens of the thousands of protesters were arrested. In January 2017, to protest the

first inauguration of Donald Trump The United States presidential inauguration, inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Trump's first term as president and Mike Pence's only term as Vice President of the United States, ...

, a collection of activist groups organized a rally titled "NYC Stand Against Trump", held at Foley Square. Foley Square is also the site of the annual Queer Liberation March, an annual LGBTQIA+ rights protest organized by the Reclaim Pride Coalition in response to perceived corporate co-opting and loss of protest principles by the

NYC Pride March The NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBT culture in New York City, LGBTQ community in New York City#Sexual orientation and gender identity, New York City. The largest pride parade and the List of largest LGBT events, larges ...

Gallery

Image:New York Supreme Court at 60 Centre Street.jpg, New York County Supreme Court at 60 Centre Street Image:WTM sheila 0036.jpg, Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse at 40 Centre Street Image:WTM sheila 0042.jpg, Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street

References

External links